Awareness Training Goals - Salinas Valley Ammonia Safety Day

Ammonia Safety Day
First Responder Awareness training is provided to employees who are assigned duties by the Facility
Emergency Coordinators (FEC).
Pre-Incident: These are critical first steps to operations BEFORE considering any move to control an
emergency event:
• Response plan agreement between all of the responders and response agencies (public safety and
local regulator)
• PPE readiness and safety – PROTECT your team members by having them wear proper PPE
before the system is opened or manipulated
• Valve and pipeline readiness concerns:
o Consider all lines to be pressurized – never open a system and think it’s completely void of
ammonia – special caution for the sub-cooled liquid
o Double check valves before you open the system, downstream and upstream
o When you work on a system and you aren’t sure of the consequences of your actions
DON’T do it. Check the protocols and SOPs and work with a supervisor or a systems
engineer to understand the consequences of a possible failure in the system!
General: Upon discovery of an incident, it’s important for the First Responder to size up an emergency
situation and identify what happened. Are lives and the environment at risk? What stage of the event is
happening now? What needs to be done next? Answer these key questions in order to prioritize which
actions to take and determine what the initial response will be.
Employees will be required to take the following action in the event of an emergency due to an
unintentional ammonia release, fire or other emergency:
1. Upon notification, employees and visitors immediately follow the procedures described in the
Emergency Action and Fire Prevention plans for evacuation. They will either assemble at a designated
meeting location or shelter in place, and will be accounted for by the emergency coordinator.
2. The engineering manager, the refrigeration operators, or refrigeration contractor, are permitted to take
defensive action to control the leak to the extent of their training but will take no aggressive action that
would require entry into an area containing ammonia concentrations above the permissible exposure
limits without first donning the appropriate level of respiratory protection and personal protective
equipment.
On Site Readiness: Facility Emergency Coordinator (FEC): The person in charge of any emergency
incident must be designated and trained to fill that position. At least 2 people for each working shift
should be trained at that level. Training will be in accordance with the following:
Level 1: Defense only, under 300 PPM, supported by local public safety trained to a pre-described level of
readiness: a minimum of 8 hours of Operational training annually refreshed (8 hours) is recommended for
response team members. FECs shall be trained to Technician level with special training on how to engage
and utilize the Incident Command System.
Level 2: Offense to 5,000 PPM with continuous monitoring while inside the hot zone. SCBA and
chemical resistant suits recommended to have at least 60 minutes impermeability for ammonia, with the
best being 480 minutes; Technician trained with 24 hours of training supported by 8 hours of refresher
mandated; skill tested with Level B equipment at least 3 times per year for each response team member;
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©ASTI – www.ammonia-safety.com – August 2008